Applications Due: July 2, 2018, 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
Description:
This initiative is intended to expand on federal, state, local, and tribal efforts to enforce crime victims’ rights. One managing training and technical assistance (TTA) provider will be selected
under this Initiative, which, in turn, will competitively select up to six subgrantee clinics. The TTA provider will provide training and technical assistance to the competitively selected legal clinics. The TTA provider will also assist the legal clinics as they support the enhancement or expansion of new or existing federal, state, local, or tribal crime victim rights’ legal clinics. These clinics will provide victims with attorneys who will enforce victims’ rights, and represent victims in collateral civil legal matters that are substantially related to the victimization. Selected clinics will be expected to provide training on crime victims’ rights to prosecutors, criminal justice professionals, attorneys, local bar associations, law school students, advocates, and other allied professionals working with victims in their vicinity.
The overarching goals of this initiative are to: (1) provide victims with crime victims’ rights enforcement and representation on collateral civil legal matters; (2) raise awareness about crime victims’ rights among prosecutors, criminal justice professionals, attorneys, local bar associations, law students, advocates, and other allied professionals working with victims, and (3) expand the body of professionals who will advocate for the enforcement of crime victims’ rights.
As detailed below, OVC expects to accomplish these goals by supporting one managing TTA provider that will: competitively select crime victims’ rights clinics, and support the selected clinics in their provision of legal services and training.
Goal 1: Training and Technical Assistance Provider
Objectives: The selected TTA provider will competitively select up to six crime victims’ rights clinics and provide intensive TTA to the clinics as the clinics launch their programs to enforce crime victims’ rights, represent victims in collateral civil matters, and train allied professionals.
Goal 2: Crime Victims’ Rights Clinics (to be selected by the TTA provider)
Objectives: The crime victims’ rights clinics will be competitively selected by the TTA provider, in consultation with OVC. Selected clinics will enforce crime victims’ rights at the federal, state, local and tribal levels, and will provide legal assistance on collateral legal matters substantially related to the victimization. The clinics must use funding to provide legal representation to victims in an effort to enforce victims’ rights under the CVRA, other federal statutes, and state and/or local laws. The selected clinics must demonstrate how attorneys can have standing in civil, criminal, administrative, appellate, or other proceedings to enforce crime victims’ rights. The clinics will also provide training and education on crime victims’ rights enforcement to allied professionals.
Funding Title: OVC FY 2018 Initiative to Enhance Crime Victims’ Rights Enforcement and Victim Access to Legal Assistance
Agency Name: Office for Victims of Crime
Funding Opportunity Number: OVC-2018-14260
Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement
Express Language for Legal Aid: Yes.
Pages 5-6: The six clinics selected by the TTA provider “will provide victims with attorneys who will enforce victims’ rights, and represent victims in collateral civil legal matters that are substantially related to the victimization. Selected clinics will be expected to provide training on crime victims’ rights to prosecutors, criminal justice professionals, attorneys, local bar associations, law school students, advocates, and other allied professionals working with victims in their vicinity.
- Provide pro bono legal representation to victims of crime on the enforcement of crime victims’ rights;
- Provide pro bono legal representation on collateral civil legal matters that are substantially related to the victimization;
- Represent crime victims in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings at the trial and appellate level, so long as such representation is related to crime victims’ rights enforcement and substantially related to the victimization;
- Educate and train prosecutors, criminal justice professionals, law students, attorneys, local bar associations, and other professionals working with victims on victims’ rights;
- Provide legal services to clients within 6 months of receiving funding from the TTA provider;
- Work with the TTA provider to develop a plan to assess the project’s effectiveness and to evaluate accomplishment of project goals and objectives; and
- Produce other deliverables as may be determined by OVC and the TTA provider.
Target Population: Victims of crime
Expected Number of Awards: OVC expects to make one award totaling $6.9 million to the managing TTA provider, which will be distributed, as follows: (a) approximately $900,000 for the managing TTA provider; and (b) approximately $6 million for six crime victims’ rights clinics ($1 million per site). The total amount anticipated to be awarded under the solicitation is $6.9 million for a 3-year award period, beginning on October 1, 2018.
Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No
Estimated Total Program Funding: $6,900,000
Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
Award Floor: $900,000
How to Apply: Applicants must register in, and submit applications through Grants.gov, a primary source to find federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find complete instructions on how to register and submit an application at www.Grants.gov. Applicants that experience technical difficulties during this process should call the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726 or 606–545–5035, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except federal holidays. Registering with Grants.gov is a one-time process; however, processing delays may occur, and it can take several weeks for first-time registrants to receive confirmation and a user password. OJP encourages applicants to register several weeks before the application submission deadline.
In addition, OJP urges applicants to submit applications 72 hours prior to the application due date to allow time to receive validation messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.
OVC strongly encourages all prospective applicants to sign up for Grants.gov email notifications regarding this solicitation. If this solicitation is cancelled or modified, individuals who sign up with Grants.gov for updates will be automatically notified.
Current Closing Date for Applications: by July 2, 2018, 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time
Eligible Applicants: Eligible applicants are limited to nonprofit organizations (including tribal nonprofit organizations), faith-based and community-based organizations, colleges or universities (including tribal institutions of higher education), and public agencies, federally recognized Indian tribal governments (as determined by the Secretary of the Interior), or tribal organizations. Applicants should be able to demonstrate: (1) the capacity to competitively award subgrants to individual legal clinics; (2) the ability to provide programmatic, financial and administrative oversight and support to multiple legal clinics; (3) the knowledge and understanding of the enforcement of crime victims’ rights; (4) the experience in providing legal counsel and crime victims’ rights enforcement services for victims in criminal cases, and providing civil legal assistance to victims of crime in collateral legal matters; (5) sufficient staff resources and the capability to fulfill the
objectives required by this project; and (6) the capacity to carry out the objectives of this program as a stand-alone program.
Link to Full Announcement: Here.
Contact Information: For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer Support Hotline at 800–518–4726, 606–545–5035, at www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or at support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays.
Categories: Department of Justice, Domestic Violence, Education Organizations, Elderly, Express Language for Legal Aid, Family, Government Organizations, Native American Tribes or Tribal Organizations, Non-profit Organizations, Victims of Crime
Civil Legal Aid Federal Funding Resources 